


A Handful of Baby's Breath

by FlutteringPhalanges



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Babies, Canon universe with pregnancy except, Dani doesn't want Jamie to be lonely, Dani gets in vitro feralization, F/F, Family Fluff, Follows Dani and Jamie from being married up until Jamie's attendance at Flora's wedding, Haunting of Bly Manor, Non Graphic Birth, Planned Pregnancy, Twins, dani x jamie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlutteringPhalanges/pseuds/FlutteringPhalanges
Summary: Dani knows that her days are numbered. And even though she won't admit it aloud, Jamie is well aware of it too. It's the idea of leaving Jamie alone that brings a thought to her mind. A rather big, important thought. An idea of leaving a piece of herself behind. Or rather, two pieces of herself. Together, Dani and Jamie decide to expand their family. From pregnancy to years gone by, we see a new meaning in: "It's me. It's you. It's us."
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 10
Kudos: 101





	A Handful of Baby's Breath

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea why I thought of this. I just like baby stories! Any inconsistencies I am so sorry! I did a lot of research, but I am still prone to mistakes! Hope you like it! -Jen

Jamie eyed the bouquet of flowers left neatly on the counter with mixed suspicion and amusement. Dani was not as well equipped as she was when it came to botanical knowledge, but she still had a rather decent eye for pretty flowers. The ones you'd use for romance and such. And yet, to her at least, a lone collection of white Baby's Breath didn't seem to fit the theme.

"An interesting find there, Poppins." The other woman grinned, wiping her hands on a dish rag as her wife walked in. "Did you pick those yourself off the side of the road?"

"No…" Dani said, a nervous smile crossing her features as she entered the room. "I um...I drove a ways and bought them as a surprise. Getting them from you wouldn't make much sense."

She had that distant look in her eyes. A stare that made Jamie's stomach knot. It was as if she was seeing something that only her gaze could meet. And the woman knew well enough that that was sometimes the case. Her brow furrowed as she stepped closer, a hand resting on her wife's shoulder.

"What is it?" She asked softly, trying to hide the concern in tone. "Did you see…"

"No." Dani interrupted, shaking her head vigorously. "No, it's not that. It's…" The woman paused, clearing her throat. "I want to talk to you about something. Something big." Her blue eyes widened as she took Jamie's hand and pulled her to the couch. "It's not bad...maybe not...but...sit down first."

"Okay…" Jamie said slowly, letting out a chuckle. "What did you do this time? You didn't run into the light pole again. I told you we could replace that piece of junk. You don't have to destroy the bloody car for that to happen."

"Not the car." The young woman assured her. "I...I don't know how long I have left…"

"Don't start." Jamie cut her off, her mouth curving into a deep frown. "We talked about this. When the time comes, we'll face this together." Dani opened her mouth, but her wife held up her finger. "It's alright. Everything is going to be just fine as it has been."

"Whenever it happens, and it will, I don't want you to be alone." Dani insisted, straightening up in her seat to face Jamie. "So I've been thinking about it-quite constantly I might add, and I think that...well, we should have a baby."

If she had been holding a glass of wine, this would be the moment she'd spew the liquid out in utter shock. Jamie stared back at Dani, who seemed rather calm as if she expected this reaction, with her mouth agape. Certainly she hadn't heard her right. No, not possible. Or if she had, maybe she was beginning to lose her beloved much faster than she'd thought.

"A baby?!" Jamie blinked, eyes fixed on Dani. "As in a living, breathing, tiny human being?! That kind of baby?!"

"Well certainly not an animal, though I did consider that." Her voice was calm, mellow as she spoke. "And I thought that perhaps, if you agree, I'll carry the child. That way you'll always have a piece of me." She smiled contently at the thought. "I know _she_ is inside of me. But the more I've thought about it, the more I've come to realize that her being there won't affect any child we have." Dani sighed and her gaze flickered towards the window. "At least I'd like to think that. That that part of me, my genetic makeup, is and will always be mine. A ghost can only possess so much."

"And how, pray tell, if we did decide to do this absurd idea of yours would we go about it? Most places our union alone wouldn't be accepted, much less both our names on a birth certificate. Hell, Poppins." Jamie exhaled, running a hand through her hair. "It's nice to see you with some pep in your step, but a baby…"

"In vitro fertilization." Dani said confidently. "Many women have had success with it. We just have to find the right sperm donor and then...well, I suppose we hope that we're lucky." She took Jamie's hands in both of hers. "I know it's far, across the world, but there is a sperm bank in California who actually helps women like us. Not to mention that I am still technically an American citizen. And I know it isn't the same, but there is something called _Second Parent Adoption_ which would secure that no matter what happens to me, our child is yours. Custody and all. I know the wording is far from favorable, but we'd be a family. A whole family. And us knowing that, being that, is the only thing that matters."

Jamie was silent, her hands still held in Dani's. She could see the look of desperation in her wife's eyes. The desire. The need. She didn't like to think of losing her. Nor had she really ever seen herself as a mother. But here her wife sat nearly pleading the idea to her. It wouldn't be an easy road. Perhaps not even successful. But Dani's adamance. Her hope. Suddenly the gardener considered that maybe if she could keep a plant alive, a child couldn't be that much harder.

"Is this what you really want?" She finally asked, gazing deep in the other woman's eyes. "Really, really want?"

"More than anything." Dani breathed.

"Alright then." Jamie said, leaning forward to touch her forehead to Dani's. "Let's make a baby then."

* * *

"Christ, it's so hot…" Dani complained as she fanned herself with a leaflet. "Turn down the thermostat!"

"What can you expect in sunny California?" Her wife joked, walking over to hand the heavily pregnant woman a glass of water. "And to think it's actually colder here than average. I'm rather comfortable myself."

Dani threw her a dirty glare as she hobbled over to the kitchen table. So much had happened in the last eight months. Not only had their attempt to become pregnant worked on the first try, but Dani had found herself expecting twins. Thankfully both she and Jamie had experience dealing with two kids-even if one had been the au pair and the other a gardener.

"You should apply for US citizenship so you can remain here in America with the twins if things don't work out." Dani said quietly, sipping on her water. "Surely you meet the requirements. I've just been thinking, if we go back...when we got back to England and I'm...it's just you three, if something were to arise, you'd have a place to call your second home." She rested a hand on her belly thoughtfully. "I'm sure Henry would be more than willing to help out if need be."

"We have talked to him in years." Jamie exhaled, taking a seat beside her wife. "And I told you to stop worrying about silly stuff like that. One day at a time. Right now, the twins are healthy, you're in one piece, and I'm not boiling over in the bloody heat." She smiled and kissed the other woman, her hand moving to rest over hers. "Things will work themselves out as they normally do."

"Well can we at least pick some names?" Dani exclaimed, motioning to her stomach. "That would take some anxiety off my mind. It would've helped if you let the doctor tell us what we were having too."

"I quite like surprises." Jamie stated with a shrug. "And we've only got a few weeks left. Not much longer now." She seemed hesitate for a moment as if deep in thought. "How about Ernest for a boy? After that lovely drunk man who has taken a piss or two on the corner side diner?"

"I will pluck every petal from every bloom in your garden." Her wife snorted, mouth twitching into a small smile. "Is picking a flower name too ironic? Rose seems lovely for any age. Or Hyacinth? I quite like that one actually."

"Too common and too old sounding." Jamie shook her head. "What about Albert? We can call him Al for short. Seems acceptable enough."

Dani pursed her lips in consideration. "Maybe." She said, gently stroking her stomach. "It's the first acceptable name you've ever given me." Jamie rolled her eyes and her wife snorted. "Fine, in case we have another boy...Joel."

"Is there a reason for that name?" The other woman asked curiously.

"...I may or may not have had a dog with that name." Dani replied sheepishly. "What?" She grinned as the words sent the gardener into a fit of laughter. "Were you expecting me to say it was an old crush?"

"Certainly not a dog, that's for sure. But...I suppose I'll allow it." Jamie chewed on her bottom lip. "Albert and Joel...those aren't too horrible to make them want to kill us when they are older." Or rather, when _she_ was older. Never mind that. "We need girls' names now. And before you say anything, if we must pick a plant name...Aster."

"Aster?" Dani questioned, one of her brows cocked in question. "Aren't you worried she'll be made fun of for that?"

"Children make fun of any and everything." Jamie yawned, leaning back in her chair. "Besides, if she is anything like us, she'll be the alpha of the playground."

"I don't condone our daughter being violent." Dani said, though it was hard to hide the amusement from her face. "...I guess it's a nice enough name-and it is a flower." She laced her fingers over the apex of her stomach. "Hannah."

Jamie stiffened slightly at the mention of the late housekeeper. Hannah rarely came up in conversation. Mostly when the couple had paid a visit to Owen's restaurant in the past. Dani's eyes seemed to be studying her wife, waiting for a response to her suggestion.

"Hannah." She nodded, smiling as she spoke. "I like that one a lot."

It was, after all, a very good, dependable name.

* * *

She couldn't believe she agreed to this. How could she have been so utterly stupid? Dani's safety and well being far surpassed her wife's fear of Jamie not being allowed to go into the delivery room. Whether they saw to it or not, she was the former au pair's wife. Her family. But instead of a clean, medical equipment on hand, hospital room, her beloved partner writhed in agony in their bed as the weird midwife Dani insisted they hire and accompanying apprentice went about.

"There is still time for us to go!" Jamie pleaded as Dani squeezed the life out of her hand. "Come on, Poppins, you don't want to do this here."

"Yes...Yes I do!" Dani insisted through grunts, despite the lingering thought of an epidural beginning to sound more and more lovely. "I just...CHRIST!" Part of her wanted to strangle Jamie in that moment. Her poor, innocent wife. If she remembered, she'd apologize later. "You have NO idea what this is like!"

" _And I'm rather glad for that."_ Jamie thought to herself as she knelt by Dani's side. "Do you want to get into the tub-"

"I said NO WATER!" And the ferocity in the former au pair's tone shut the other woman up quick. "Please, I just want to push! I feel like I have to! I've been having contraction after contraction for hours! I. Want. To. Push!"

"Lydia, light the incense please." The midwife said calmly as the other woman lit some sticks that smelt of horrible, faux lavender. "Let me see where you are."

The phone was just inches away from her grasp as Jamie eyed it longingly from her spot beside the bed. If she could just unlatch herself from Dani, maybe she could call the emergency hotline and have her wife transported to a location with an actual doctor. Images of Dani hemorrhaging out and blue tinted babies filled the woman's head as the midwife smiled.

"Dani, you are definitely ready to deliver your children. Are you ready to become a mom?"

 _Are you ready to become a mom?_ The words floated in the gardener's head and embedded themselves in her mind. As she looked to Dani, it was evident in her tired expression that she too was nervous. Now was not the time to show worry. Not when her wife needed her most. Forcing a smile, Jamie squeezed her wife's hand.

"Let's have us some babies then."

Time felt faster than it probably actually was. For a second, it seemed as if it was only her and Dani. Then, bright pink with a healthy wail, Albert Joel Clayton was placed on his mother's chest. And, as it should be, not long after, just as full of life as her brother, Hannah Aster Clayton made her own appearance in this world. A little boy and girl. Two moms and two children. What more could one ask for?

"You were brilliant, Poppins." Jamie beamed, kissing her wife lovingly. "They're perfect."

"Yes." Dani agreed, smiling brightly despite her exhaustion. "They are, aren't they." She held the infants close to her bare skin and closed her eyes. "I don't want this to end." The new mother whispered. And for the first time, Jamie could see tears of sadness welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm not ready."

"It won't end." Jamie exclaimed, smoothing her partner's hair down. "I won't allow it."

The former au pair opened her eyes and gave a sorrowful, watery smile. "Okay." She murmured, swallowing hard. Though Jamie didn't know it yet, Dani knew that her time was soon approaching. "Let's stay together then." Her eyes flickered down to the twins. "One day at a time."

* * *

It would be a happier tale to say that after everything, Dani was not taken over by the Lady of the Lake. That she and Jamie got to raise their children together. Live as a happy family. But such good endings did not follow the family's return to England from their temporary stay in the States.

At first, Jamie had hoped that Dani was just suffering from postpartum depression. She rarely ate. Slept at odd hours. And her interest in the babies was not what one would expect. But the final straw that broke the camel's back. That snapped Dani to realizing she must leave in order to protect her family came one night after Sunday dinner.

"I think you got more peas on the floor than in you, Al." Jamie smirked at the ten month old as she made her way to the kitchen. "Poppins, where is the broom? Albert-"

Jamie stopped in her tracks, her heart leaping out of her chest. There Dani stood, completely stone faced and about to submerge Hannah in the filled up sink. Reacting quickly, the gardener rushed over and snatched her daughter away causing her wife to snap out of her trance.

"What happened?!" She asked, her tone inflected with terror as she looked from the sink to her wailing child. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" Dani's trembling hands flew to her face as her stomach threatened to dry heave. "I didn't...I didn't…"

"Dani, everything is alright now." Jamie said, her own voice still a little shaky. "Hannah's fine. You didn't hurt her."

"I almost drowned our child!" Dani wailed, throwing her arms up in the air. "Dammit, Jamie, can't you see?! She's here! I can feel her inside of me! I've felt her growing since the twins were born!" The former au pair began to shake her head violently. "No! No! I won't! I can't! I have to go!"

"No!" Jamie snapped. "No! You aren't going anywhere! We'll figure this out! It could be a phase!"

Dani only stared at Hannah, who currently had her face buried in Jamie's chest. "I need to sit down and have a drink." She said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Jamie cleaned up after that, watching as Dani sauntered off to bed. She forced a smile as she bathed the twins and dressed them for sleep. By the time she made it to their room, the gardener merely assumed that her wife had fallen fast asleep. And that maybe things would be better in the morning. What an utterly, terrible mistake to make. How painful it can be to wake up alone in bed.

Between coming to and Owen's arrival to watch the twins, only an hour had passed before Jamie found herself speeding to Bly Manor. Perhaps it wasn't too late. Maybe there was still a chance. The thought of it kept her going. Her love for Dani. Their children. And even when she swam deep out to the middle of that horrid lake and dove to its depths, she still prayed. Oh how even in death her beloved wife appeared so breathtaking.

_It's you. It's me. It's us._

_It's you. It's me. It's us._

_It's us._

* * *

The only thing that seemed to excite the twins at Flora's wedding was the cake. Though they did not know her and she did not remember any reason of why or who she might associate them with, the three got along perfectly splendid. Jamie, who was practically a stranger to the girl but had been invited by Henry, offered to take them somewhere quiet, but she insisted that the children play. It was, after all, something she would've done.

"Is your Mummy dead too?" Hannah asked randomly when the bride went to see how her favorite guests were doing.

"What would make you ask that?" The woman smiled curiously.

"Well she isn't here." Albert remarked. "Our Mummy is dead. Well, one of our mummies."

"Our other Mama is alive." His sister added on cheerfully. "Very much so!"

"I miss my mother." Flora said kneeling down. "But do you know what my uncle told me?"

"What?" Albert asked, sounding quite serious despite his young age.

"He said that she is always right here with me." The bride replied, gently touching both of their chests. "In our hearts."

The twins looked at each other and giggled. Flora's brows furrowed in confusion. It seemed a very odd thing to find humorous.

"That's so silly!" Hannah grinned, meeting the woman's stare. "Mummy isn't in our hearts! No, Mummy comes out at night. Sometimes she visits us."

"But she doesn't talk." Albert informed her. "Sometimes she watches me or just walks." The young boy tilted his head. "You've never seen your Mummy?"

Before Flora could question them more, Jamie swooped in. Wrapping her arounds around the children, she apologized to the bride. At least, given their age, their recounting might be viewed as nothing more than fiction.

"Remember we don't talk about Mummy here." Jamie said kneeling in front of her kids.

"Mama?" Albert began, tugging at one of his loose buttons. "How come people like the nice lady don't visit us? Not even Uncle Owen?"

"Well…" His mother began, choosing her next words carefully. "When you live at Bly Manor, it's sort of a...special place. Magical. And for Mummy's sake, we want to keep it that way, don't we?"

Both the children nodded their heads and Jamie smiled. Pressing a kiss to the top of each of their heads, she allowed them to go running off towards the dance floor. Owen would be there, she knew, with the promise of sweets. And later on, she would drive the three of them home and tuck the two away in bed. Then she'd wait. Like every night since.

She hadn't gone back to America like Dani had insisted. Instead, with Henry's good graces and making sure it was safe for her children. That all that bad and terrible was gone. They had moved into Bly Manor. She, the twins, and their Mummy of the Lake who visited on more than one occasion. The beautiful spirit who she someday hoped would allow her to roam the endless gardens and stone too.

Pulling out a chair, she sat down with a smile, repeating the same phrase that held a new meaning now.

"It's you. It's me. It's us."

**Author's Note:**

> So I guess this has a happy-ish ending? I was rather unclear on the dates following Dani and Jamie getting together and then Flora's wedding. So I had the twins be born closer to when Dani was overtaken by the Lady of the Lake and at Flora's wedding the kids were closer to Flora and Miles when they were young on the show? Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Feedback is greatly loved and appreciated! -Jen


End file.
